Torrent of abuse unleashed on unsuspecting wedding couple

For many couples looking to tie the knot somewhere more exotic than the local register office, the turquoise seas and golden sands of the Maldives hold a particular allure. But an important lesson can be gleaned from the experience of one unfortunate pair who renewed their vows there recently: always make sure you know exactly what you're saying "I do" to.

A luxury hotel in the island nation was forced to apologise today after a couple who thought they were being blessed at an idyllic beach ceremony were in fact being roundly abused in the local tongue. The Vilu Reef hotel said police were investigating after a staff member conducting the renewal of marriage vows instead read out a series of extreme sexual and religious slurs in the Dhivehi language spoken in the Maldives. A public relations disaster unfolded after a video surfaced showing the ceremony supervisor mocking and insulting the hapless couple, calling them "swine" and "infidels" amid a string of bizarre insults.

Video has subtitles.


"Before buggering a chicken, check if the hole is clean. That is because the people of the countries that you are from are familiar with the taste of the arseholes of chicken," he chants. He later says: "You are swine. The children that you bear from this marriage will all be bastard swine. Your marriage is not a valid one. You are not the kind of people who can have a valid marriage. One of you is an infidel. The other, too, is an infidel – and we have reason to believe – an atheist, who does not even believe in an infidel religion."

According to the Maldives News Service Minivan News, the video of the ceremony was uploaded on YouTube on Sunday by a member of staff. Vilu Reef's manager, Mohamed Rasheed, said that the staff member who uploaded the video did it as "a joke", without "realising the seriousness of the potential consequences". Sun Investments PVT, which operates the resort, issued a statement saying: "The corporate management of the resort is deeply saddened by this humiliating event and expresses its serious concerns over the incident, including the content shown in the video and the unforgivable conduct displayed by the staff involved in the incident."